"It just might be possible for Linux desktop users to get one of OS/2's best features: SOM (System Object Model). Of course, many of you are asking, 'SOM, What's the heck is SOM?' I'll tell you. It's a CORBA object-oriented shared library. Those of you who aren't programmers are doubtlessly staring cross-eyed at the screen right about now. For you: SOM is an easy-to-use universal programming library that both KDE and GNOME developers could use to create programs that would work in any Linux desktop environment."

Systems like SOM, Windows COM, Apple's pre-OS X "Publish and Subscribe", etc have been around for *ages*.
It was one of the foundations of NextSTEP, which is where most modern implementations get their inspiration from.
The idea has been around since the late 1960's. The Wikipedia article on "Software Componentry" has a brief history.

For those of you who don't realise that Linux has such a system, what do you think GNOME originally stood for? (Hint: Wikipedia knows.)